


Ocean

by floatsodelicatelyunfinished (floatsodelicately)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Reunions, Surprise Pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 16:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4187601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floatsodelicately/pseuds/floatsodelicatelyunfinished
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione brings more than just her parents’ home from Australia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 “We fell in love right by the ocean,

Made all our plans down on the sand.”

Ocean – Coasts

* * *

 

The two young men walked through the heavy rain, down the Muggle street from the apparition point and towards the house. It was early December, so it was already dark before the evening set in. One turned to the other and sighed, “Stop playing with your hands. Everything will be fine, just relax.”

“What if she hates me?” Ron asked. “Or even worse, what if she cries? What do I do if she cries? I can’t stand it when she cries. This was a bad idea, I’ll just go home and we can do this some other time-“

Harry grabbed Ron’s collar before he could turn and run back to the apparition point. “We’ve already agreed that we’re both coming to dinner, and it’s with her mum. This whole thing is about them coming back to England. Just be honest with her, I’m not saying blurt it out as soon as you see her, that wouldn’t be good. But if she says anything, be honest. She’s been gone for a long time, it’s been almost 18 months, maybe she’s moved on too-“

“But you saw the Prophet after the war and when she left, everyone thinks that we’re meant to be together, like you and Ginny. And you’ve seen how Mum is with Luna; even  _she_  thinks I should have waited for Hermione to come back.”

“Calm down and stop worrying,” Harry hissed as they reached the Granger’s door and he knocked.

A few moments later, they heard hurried footsteps from inside the house and the front door opened. Hermione’s mother appeared in front of them, looking more tanned than she had been the last time they had seen her almost three years ago. Mrs Granger looked like Hermione, she had the same eyes and complexion,  similar height and build, the only major difference was the hair; while she had straight blonde hair, Hermione had inherited her father’s brown curls which he always kept cut short to avoid the frizz that had plagued Hermione for years. Thinking about Hermione’s father darkened Harry’s thoughts somewhat. In Hermione’s letter inviting them to come to dinner to celebrate the move back to Britain, she had told them that her father had died while they were in Australia, only two months before they came home to England. Although he empathised with the loss of her father, Harry was glad that with her knowledge and magical skill, she had been able to spend the last months of his life with her family. 

“Oh boys, look at you! It’s been so long, come in, come in!” she ushered them inside. “We’ve been back less than a week and look at this weather, it’s  _dreadful_ ,” she tutted. Harry looked around the hallway to see that there were still several large boxes from the move, but the house was rather different than it had been the last time they were there. Noticing their quizzical looks, Mrs Granger pointed out, “We got rid of a lot of the smaller things when we got back, and Hermione shrunk some of our furniture from the house in Australia. We only kept the bigger pieces like the sofas and the bedroom furniture, the rest of it is from overseas. Now you two go on through, Hermione’s setting the table, she’s been a bit nervous about seeing you, it’s been a while,” she finished, Harry noticed her worried smile, Ron didn’t as he was preoccupied with his own worries.

Mrs Granger took their coats and went to put them in the cupboard under the stairs, leaving the boys to find Hermione on their own. Harry walked down the wide hallway, with Ron trailing behind him. He remembered the last time he had been here, only a few weeks before Hermione had obliviated her parents and sent them away to Australia. The house had been quite different then, Mrs Granger was right, this time it seemed warmer, and from the sounds of Hermione’s letter, her relationship with her parents had been a lot better than it had been during the last few years at Hogwarts. They had almost reached the dining room when Harry and Ron heard Hermione’s voice for the first time in the better part of 2 years, causing both men to halt and savour the moment. They had almost forgotten what she sounded like, the familiar sound of her talking to herself as she went about finishing a task bringing smiles to their faces.

Ron took a breath as Harry opened the door.

Then choked on it when his eyes landed on his best female friend’s rounded stomach, then flashed to the rings on her left hand.

Without turning away, Harry whispered to Ron from the side of his mouth, “I don’t think she’s going to be mad about Luna.”


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione wasn’t fat. Never in all the years they had known her, had Hermione ever been described as fat. Hermione, like her mother, had a willowy figure, her movements were lithe and graceful even when ducking and diving to avoid being cursed at by Death Eaters.  _That_  wasn’t fat. Hermione was sporting an unmistakeable baby bump.

The three of them stared at each other wide-eyed, none of them sure what to say to make this moment any less uncomfortable. Although Hermione had been preparing for this conversation for 5 months, and a different version of it for almost a year, all words escaped her as she was finally faced with her two oldest and closest friends.

“Hi,” she said softly.

“Hi?!” Ron yelped. “Pregnant! Harry! Hermione’s pregnant!”

“Thanks, Ron, I got that,” Harry said dryly.

“But-she-you-when did you-who did you-Hermione! When did this happen?!”

Hermione put down the plates she was holding and smiled at them, “About 5 months ago.”

“And why didn’t you tell us?” Harry asked, unsure of how he was remaining so calm while Ron was getting more flustered by the second.

“I didn’t want to write it in a letter, I thought it might be a bit impersonal,” she answered, resting a hand on her tummy. “And I didn’t tell you when I got married for the same reason, so if I did tell you about the baby and your mum got a hold of it,” she said, pointing at Ron who grimaced at the thought, “she’d be back to thinking of me as some kind of ‘ _scarlet woman’_!”

The boys nodded, knowing that Molly would kick up a fuss at finding out about Hermione’s pregnancy. Ron flopped down into one of the chairs, a smile spreading across his face; his mum would have to get over this idea of him and Hermione after all, Hermione was pregnant with her husband’s child! Though the thought that she would stop hounding him was slightly overshadowed by the realisation that Hermione had moved on without talking to him, even if he had as well, knowing that there was no ‘ _Romione Romance_ ’ as the Daily Prophet had harked on about, after all those years of dancing around and fancying each other still stung a bit.

Hermione winced slightly and kneaded her fingers on the small of her back. She lowered herself into her chair, smiling shyly when she saw both Harry and Ron jump forward a little as if to help her. They had always hovered when she was injured or in pain, something that both frustrated and amused her to no end as she was injured quite frequently during their school years and during the final year of the war. She picked her wand up from the table and flicked it, sending the plates, glasses and cutlery into their places and the three of them watched the dinner service arrange itself in a strange silence.

Harry took the seat opposite her, eyeing the spot beside her and wondering who would be filling that seat as he assumed the place set at the head of the table would be for Hermione’s mother.

“So…” he started. “Did we not warrant an invite to the wedding?” he asked teasingly, making sure that she knew he wasn’t really upset, only curious about why they hadn’t known about the other man in Hermione’s life.

When he saw her breathing speed up and her eyes flood with tears, he remembered that teasing pregnant women was not something to take lightly. Ron looked at him with alarm as he recognised what was happening; Fleur had almost hexed him to China during her pregnancy with Victoire when he made a joke about Bill resembling a goblin the more time he spent down at Gringott’s.

“I-I-I didn’t-“

“Hermione! I was just teasing! I didn’t mean to make you-“

“I-It’s just that-“ she hiccupped and wiped away the twin tears that had escaped. “It was o-only us and our parents. D-Dad had had a scare and he wanted to be there when we-when we got married…so we went to the beach near Mum and Dad’s house and Elena married us.” Hermione was looking down at her wedding ring and so missed the confused look as Ron mouthed ‘Elena?’ and Harry shrugged.

Not wanting to push Hermione further just yet, they dropped the subject and Harry looked curiously around the room at the photo’s old and new that were dotted around. Some were from before Hermione was born and then her childhood, there was one of her in her Hogwarts uniform without her robes on just in case there were any muggle visitors that saw it. His gaze settled on the sideboard where he found what he had really been looking for. It took Harry a few moments to place the other face in the photograph. Ron and Hermione had settled into a strained conversation about the weather and the move back to England and with the clap of thunder outside, none of them caught the sound of the front door.

He heard footsteps that were too heavy to be Mrs Granger’s heading towards the dining room and braced himself. First, for the awkward introduction that was to come, and second, for Ron’s outburst.

Ron noticed that he lost Hermione’s attention and couldn’t help but smile fondly as he looked at her. She glowed with happiness and he guessed that they’d be meeting her husband right about now. The thought that it wasn’t him that made her smile like that was still slightly painful, but the idea that one day, he could make Luna smile like that – or another woman, if it didn’t work out with Luna – was a pleasant one. He heard the footsteps stop and the door open. Hermione beamed and the boys turned around, getting out of their seats to greet the new man in Hermione’s life.

Ron almost tripped over his own feet when he caught sight of the expensive leather shoes and tailored trousers, waistcoat, the crisp white shirt and dark forest green tie that Hermione’s husband was wearing. He knew that Hermione thought nothing of it, but she had a habit of attracting wealthy boyfriends like Krum and McClaggen, something that he felt insecure about quite often when he thought of them being together. It wasn’t as if Hermione was like one of those girls from Hogwarts that latched on to the richer boys and families hoping for marriage contracts or agreements, she wasn’t a Parkinson or a Greengrass; she was Hermione. Hermione whose husband was rich, well dressed, handsome and…awfully familiar looking.

Then it clicked. Apparently Harry had worked it out before him as he greeted the man.

“Zabini,” he nodded stiffly.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 181. Hermione brings more than just her parents’ home from Australia. hpfanfictionprompts.tumblr.com


End file.
